About Lilly Fellows

The Lilly Fellows program, which allows for visiting distinguished professionals to share their vocational paths and to reflect with students and faculty about moral and ethical questions that have been constants in their careers.

This semester saw two visits: one from veteran journalist Colman McCarthy (for many years a columnist for the Washington Post) who also is the director for the Center for Teaching Peace in Washington, DC, an organization which promotes among students (high school through graduate school years) the non-violent resolution of conflicts and which also presents the history of the non-violent movement, in the United States and worldwide. Colman’s visit took place in the period just prior to the Iraq War and was the occasion for some interesting reflection by faculty, staff and students about engaging conflict, the use of power – in private lives and internationally, and the spiritual power of service. The last of which, Colman submitted, must always be prayed about in the most positive of ways – as in, “O God, please make use of my gifts,” rather than the oft-used language of “please grant to me/us/them…”

The other Lilly Fellow for 2002-03 was Sadiqua Salahuddin, Director of the Indus Resource Center (IRC) in Pakistan. IRC is a community-based organization dedicated to the economic betterment of rural Pakistan through its work in building credit among villagers through microeconomic processes (e.g. the Grameen Bank) and increasing literacy among the same population, especially among women. Sadiqua lectured the university community on the dynamics of social change and the implementation of processes that promote the rights of smaller landowners and laborers. Sadiqua’s history as an educator of government officials and with national and international NGO’s lends a unique perspective to work with citizens at the local level. While her work history might almost be characterized as “downward mobility,” she has maintained her contacts at the national and international levels, thus facilitating her work at the level where she believes change is most critical.

Colman McCarthy’s visit also coincided with students’ setting out for Spring Break trips through Chapel Outreach. His presence was a great encouragement to those students, as well as to students in classes as varied as political science, religion, Russian literature, and anthropology. Sadiqua was able to offer students an interesting perspective on relations between Islamic nations and the West, to explain to them that complexities – religious, political, and social – exist in both parts of the world and the recognition of such complexity is primary to further understanding.

The Lilly Fellows program is administered through the Lilly Office at Sewanee with the advisory and logistical aid of Dr. Gayle McKeen of the Department of Political Science at Sewanee. While the intention remains of having a scholar visit the campus for the better part of a semester, visits of shorter duration have proved to be fruitful and connected to student Outreach and classroom experiences.

 

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